Jamaica’s senior netballers completed a comfortable 56-47 victory over England in yesterday’s opening Test of the three-match Supreme Ventures Limited Sunshine series at the National Indoor Sports Centre.

Goal shooter Jhaniele Fowler came off the bench late in the third quarter to replace Romelda Aiken and guided Jamaica with 19 goals from 25 attempts. Aiken was 19 from 26, while Shanice Beckford hit 12 from 15.

For England, Jo Harten led the way with 24 goals from 31 attempts, while substitute Kadeen Corbin contributed 12 from 16.

“It’s a good win for us and that’s what we’ve been training for. We wanted to start on a positive note in game one and we had a victorious game,” an elated Minneth Reynolds told the Jamaica Observer after the encounter.

“We were a bit shaky at the start, I suppose because of nerves. But I spoke to them and told them this is what we trained for so keep their composure and stay in control and let the ball do the job,” she added.

England’s coach Anna Mayes said her team played “inconsistently” throughout the encounter and promised that “will have to be addressed” for today’s second match at the same venue.

Mayes added that players coming off the bench in the second half “did well” as England fought, in futility, to cut the deficit late in the game.  

Both teams began nervously, easily giving away possession on numerous occasions, but soon they settled to entertain fans with end-to-end action and they entered the first-quarter break locked at 13.

The Sunshine Girls, ranked fourth in the world, a place below the England Roses, pulled away in the second quarter and reached the half-time break with a 30-24 lead.

By the curtailment of the third quarter, Jamaica had scored 42 goals to England’s 34 and they consolidated in the final quarter to leave noisy home fans in a frenzy.

Today’s game is scheduled to begin at 5:00 pm, while Tuesday’s final clash of the series is set to start at 7:30 pm.

Teams:

Jamaica — Nicole Aiken-Pinnock (captain), Vangelee Williams, Khadijah Williams, Stacian Facey, Paula Thompson, Shanice Beckford, Romelda Aiken

Subs: Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Nicole Dixon, Anna-Kay Griffiths, Thristina Harwood, Sasha-Gaye Henry

England — Jade Clarke (captain), Sara Bayman, Eboni Beckford-Chambers, Sasha Corbin, Rachel Dunn, Jo Harten, Geva Mentor

Subs: Sam Cook, Ama Agbeze, Pamela Cookey, Kadeen Corbin, Stacey Francis